A Sycamore woman was charged with a misdemeanor and released on her own identity Monday for falsely claiming a man impersonated a police officer and kept her in his vehicle for an hour.

Juliana E. Landers, 25, was arrested Monday for disorderly conduct, or more specifically, filing a false police report, after an intense investigation by the Sycamore, DeKalb and DeKalb County police departments.

Landers originally claimed that on Jan. 8, she was pulled over by a man who identified himself as a police officer in the K mart parking lot, 2700 DeKalb Ave., Sycamore. She alleged the man was driving an unmarked four-door maroon or dark brown sedan with a flashing red and white light.

At the time of the incident, she told police she was detained in the man’s car for an hour and then released without harm.

But over the weekend, Sycamore Police Chief Dale Vesta said Landers changed her story and admitted she lied about the entire incident.

“After verifying her story with agencies around the area and the suburbs, things just weren’t matching up,” he said.

Vesta said he could not comment on why Landers made everything up because of her own “personal reasons,” but the department is still not taking the incident lightly.

“We take it very seriously when someone accuses a police officer of doing something like this,” he said. “We worked with the suburbs that had incidents like this in their areas and put a lot of manpower into this case.”

Vesta said Landers was charged with a class B misdemeanor and released on a $1,000 I-bond, in which she was required to pay 10 percent, or $100.

The incident marks the second time in four months an accusation was fabricated to one of the local authorities.

A month-long investigation last October proved an alleged sexual assault reported to the University Police on Sept. 17 was “unfounded.”

UP Sgt. Ralph Taylor said the “victim was confronted with the evidence gathered during the investigation and (she) admitted that the abduction and sexual assault at knife point did not occur as alleged.”

At the time of the incident, reliable sources told The Northern Star that the “victim” had some emotional problems and was receiving treatment.

The sources also said the sexual assault was fabricated so the “victim” could receive a free medical examination.

Taylor said no charges were filed against the alleged victim.